Long putt gives Longhorns third golf title

Texas senior Dylan Frittelli pumps his fist and celebrates with his team after sinking a long birdie putt on No. 18 to clinch the Longhorns’ third NCAA men’s golf championship.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Dylan Frittelli falls to the ground after making the winning putt as the University of Texas men's golf team celebrated their victory over Alabama in the NCAA Division 1 golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Dylan Frittelli, who had just sank the winning putt for the win, is hoisted in the air by teammates as the University of Texas men's golf team celebrates their victory in the NCAA Division 1 golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Alabama's Hunter Hamrick (right) shakes hands with Texas' Julio Vegas after winning on the 13th hole in the NCAA Div. I college golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Dylan Frittelli, of the University of Texas, hits from behind trees on the 13th fairway on the way to victory over Alabama in the NCAA Division 1 men's golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Coming in to the 17th hole down 1, Cory Whitsett, of the University of Alabama, reacts to his birdie that made him all square with Dylan Frittelli, of the University of Texas ,in the NCAA Division 1 men's golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Frittelli won 18 for the victory for Texas.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Justin Thomas, of the University of Alabama, hits from the bunker on the 10th green in the NCAA Division 1 men's golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Alabama lost to Texas in the championship.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Jordan Spieth, of the University of Texas, reacts to a missed putt on the 13th green in the NCAA Division 1 men's golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Texas defeated Alabama in the championship.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Cody Gribble, of the University of Texas, drives on the 14th hole as Scott Strohmeyer, of the University of Alabama, center, watches in the NCAA Division 1 men's golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles Sunday, June 3, 2012. Texas won 3 to 2.

Photo By Reed Saxon/Associated Press

The University of Texas men's golf team celebrates their victory in the NCAA Division 1 golf championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 3, 2012. From left front are: Cody Gribble, Jordan Spieth, and assistant coach John-Paul Hebert. From left rear are: head coach John Fields, Toni Hakula, Dylan Frittelli, Julio Vegas and assistant coach Ryan Murphy.

Texas won its third NCAA men's golf championship Sunday, defeating Alabama on a long birdie putt by senior Dylan Frittelli at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

With the overall match tied 2-2, Frittelli, an All-American from South Africa, came to the 18th hole all-square with Alabama's Cory Whitsett. After Whitsett's birdie chip came up well short, Frittelli drained his birdie opportunity from the edge of the green.

“I don't even know what happened,” Frittelli said. “It was all a blur. I just wanted to make that putt. It was amazing.”

Alabama took the first two of the five matches. Hunter Hamrick defeated Julio Vegas 6 and 5, while Bobby Wyatt knocked in a 30-foot chip from behind the green to down Toni Hakula 1 up.

Texas then won the next two matches. In a matchup of two of the best amateur players in the country, Jordan Spieth closed out fellow freshman Justin Thomas 3 and 2. Cody Gribble went 3-0 in match play, defeating Scott Strohmeyer 2 and 1, leaving Frittelli to earn the Longhorns' third championship.

Texas also won NCAA championships in 1971 and 1972, when PGA Tour golfers Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were on the team.

Principal Charity Classic: In West Des Moines, Iowa, Jay Haas shot 5-under 66 to finish at 16-under 197, winning the Champions Tour event by five strokes and becoming the first golfer to win the event in Iowa three times. Haas' 16-under tied the tournament mark set by Gil Morgan in 2006 and matched the largest victory of the season. Kirk Triplett set the course record with a 9-under 62 and finished second at 11-under 202 with Larry Mize.

Wales Open: In Newport, Wales, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee survived a poor start to win the European Tour event by a stroke with a final round 1-over 72 in wet conditions. The 42-year-old Jaidee, who was the leader through three rounds, holed four birdies on the back nine at Celtic Manor and finished at 6-under 278.

GSA women: Sam Houston State senior Meghan Musk played the back nine at Brackenridge Golf Course at 3 over, but that was good enough to track down Flower Castillo and capture the Greater San Antonio Women's Championship. Castillo, the leader over the first two rounds of the event, struggled with six bogeys in her final eight holes.

Musk, with a closing 3-over 74, finished at 10-over 223 overall for a three-stroke victory over Castillo, an Incarnate Word junior who shot 79, and Sam Houston teammate Jessica Borth, the 2011 San Antonio champ who finished with a 74.